bookbashuk Page 163
Page 163
"The deceased was named Tsujimura Akira, 54 years old, and his occupation was... a diplomat."
Megure paused, seemingly thinking he had misheard, and asked again.
"Wait, what's your profession?"
“Diplomat, Inspector,” Matsuda repeated.
"Forehead!"
Megure immediately covered his face with his hands.
Just two days after the bombing of the Beika City Tower, the Metropolitan Police Department was already in the spotlight.
Now, another diplomat has died.
Megure didn't need to think to know how the news media would gloat over the Metropolitan Police Department's misfortune tomorrow.
"Matsuda, you must finish this quickly!" Megure earnestly urged. "If this case drags on any longer, it will never end."
"Don't worry, Inspector, we'll find out soon."
Matsuda glanced at the busy Conan and Hattori Heiji. With these two around, there was no worry about not being able to solve the case.
"That's good,"
In the investigation of the case, Megure had always trusted Matsuda.
Seeing Matsuda's confidence now, the pressure on him lessened considerably.
"Matsuda, is this another murder case?" Megure asked.
"Yes, although there were no obvious external injuries on the deceased's body, there was a small red dot behind his ear,"
Matsuda squatted down beside the corpse and pried open the deceased's ears.
"Judging from the manner of his death, he was likely killed with a nerve-paralyzing toxin. We'll have to wait for the forensic report for more details."
“I just looked around this room,”
Hattori also came over and shared his findings.
"All the windows were locked from the inside, and the only exit was that door. The most likely culprit was the person in the house who had access to the key to that room."
"Ah."
Megure nodded subconsciously, then looked at the dark-skinned boy in front of him in surprise.
"You're not the one who went to the Detective Koshien tournament..."
"Hattori Heiji,"
Seeing that he opened his mouth for a long time but couldn't say anything, Hattori had no choice but to introduce himself.
"I am a high school detective from Kansai."
"High school detective..."
Megure, with a stern face, lectured him righteously.
"What are you school kids doing at the crime scene? Haven't we had enough of the example of Tokitsu Junya before?"
“Inspector, his father is Hattori Heizo,” Matsuda said casually.
"No one is acceptable; underage children should not be involved in cases..."
Megure only realized what Matsuda had said halfway through his sentence.
"Hattori Hirzo, the chief of the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters?"
“Yes, that is indeed my father,” Hattori waved his hand, “but he is him and I am me. Inspector Megure, please don’t confuse us.”
"well,"
Inspector Megure chuckled dryly, not daring to continue lecturing the Inspector General's son, and quickly changed the subject.
"Mrs. Tsujimura, how many keys do you have for this room?"
He remembered Hattori's earlier discovery and immediately asked the lady of the house about it.
"There are two keys to the study; one is with me,"
Mrs. Tsujimura took out her keys from her bag and showed them to Megure before continuing,
"The other one is on my husband."
Chapter 201 They've grown so fast!
"On your husband?" Inspector Megure was a little incredulous.
“That’s right,” Mrs. Tsujimura confirmed. “My husband usually keeps his keys in his trouser pocket.”
With a solemn expression, Inspector Megure walked to the deceased's side and reached into his pants.
"Huh, where is it?"
"Inspector?"
Matsuda sighed and shook the evidence bag in his hand.
"I took the key a long time ago."
"That's good. I'd forgotten, Matsuda-kun, you were at the crime scene the whole time."
Megure breathed a sigh of relief.
“Inspector, this key was taken from the inner pocket of diplomat Tsujimura!” Matsuda reminded him.
"Inner pocket? How is that possible!" Inspector Megure was shocked.
"What's wrong?" Mori, belatedly realizing the seriousness of the situation, had not yet grasped the gravity of the matter.
"Uncle Mori, don't you understand the situation yet?" Hattori said helplessly. "When we came in, the door was locked, which means the murderer left after locking the door."
"There are only two keys to this room. One is in the hands of Mrs. Tsujimura, who came in with us, and the other is in the double pocket of the trousers of the murdered Mr. Tsujimura."
“This creates a locked room,” Hattori said definitively. “Therefore, this is a locked-room murder case.”
"A locked-room murder case?"
Everyone in the room looked surprised.
Only Matsuda and Conan already knew this conclusion and showed no signs of anything unusual.
“Inspector, the incident should have occurred between 3:30 and 4:00,” Matsuda instructed Megure. “Now, let’s find out the alibis of anyone who might have committed the crime during that time period as quickly as possible.”
"Don't worry, Matsuda," Megure assured, patting his chest. "We'll get all the alibis for those involved in the case. You just need to focus on solving the mystery of the locked room."
After saying that, Inspector Megure immediately called to Takagi, who was not far away.
The two began by checking the alibis of everyone, starting with Mrs. Tsujimura.
"Hey, who's the superior, Inspector Megure or Officer Matsuda?"
Hattori, who was watching all this, nudged Conan.
"I always feel like Officer Matsuda is the superior, and Inspector Megure has become the subordinate."
"Now, please tell me one by one what you were doing between 3:30 and 4:00."
After questioning Mrs. Tsujimura, Inspector Megure, accompanied by Takagi who was holding a small notebook, approached the butler, Fumio Koike.
"Mr. Koike, please tell me in detail what you were doing and where you were at that time."
"I was chatting with the neighbors at the front gate from 3:30 to 4:00," said the housekeeper, Koike, with a natural expression.
"Chatting with people means you have witnesses,"
Megure nodded and looked at the deceased's son, Tsujimura Takayoshi, and his fiancée, Katsuragi Sachiko.
A murder occurred in her family, and the victim was her fiancé's father, which frightened Katsuragi Sachiko.
Takayoshi Tsujimura embraced his trembling fiancée and reported his whereabouts to Inspector Megure.
"We arrived home shortly before Mom came back, and we even ran into Mr. Koike at the door when we came in."
Takayoshi Tsujimura said,
"After that, we went to the study to find Dad, but the door was locked and I didn't have the key. Seeing that there was no response when we knocked, we came down from the second floor, and then Mom came back."
"And what about this old gentleman?" Inspector Megure asked the deceased's father. "What were you doing between 3:30 and 4:00?"
"I arrived around 2 o'clock and have been watching TV in the living room next to the study."
The deceased's father, the old man Toshimitsu Tsujimura, thought for a moment and then answered.
"Two o'clock... I remember Mrs. Tsujimura left home before one o'clock?" Megure asked Takagi to confirm.
"Yes, you're right, Inspector."
Takagi glanced at the notes in his hand.
At this moment, Matsuda, who was standing in front of the cabinet looking at the cabinet full of CDs, asked,
"Does Diplomat Tsujimura really like music?"
“Yes, our master loves listening to classical music,” Butler Koike replied.
Classical music?
Matsuda paused for a moment, and Hattori and Conan next to him couldn't help but exchange a glance.
When they arrived at the study door, they heard opera coming from inside.
"correct,"
Just as Matsuda was about to ask something, he suddenly noticed Conan swaying unsteadily to the side.
Just as he was about to fall to the ground, Matsuda reacted quickly, reaching out to catch him before he could fall.
"Hey, Conan, are you alright?"
Matsuda reached out and touched Conan's forehead, finding it burning hot.
"It's burning so badly."
"It hurts...it hurts so much,"